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Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and John Lennon on Ed Sullivan in 1964.(Getty Images)

Fifty years ago, teenager Fred Gretsch sat in front of his family’s black-and-white television and watched the Beatles’ first live TV performance in the U.S.

Millions of American teens went crazy for John, Paul, George, and Ringo on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964, but Fred Gretsch had one extra reason to love the Beatles: George Harrison was playing his family’s guitar.

The Gretsch family has been making guitars for over 130 years, starting when German immigrant Friedrich Gretsch opened a small music shop in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1883, selling banjos, drums, and tambourines.

By the 1950s and ‘60s, Gretsch was producing some of the most sought-after instruments on the market, played by the likes of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Chet Atkins, and they’re still a standard in quality guitars today.

George Harrison bought his first Gretsch used from a shop in Liverpool, and described it as his first “good guitar,” Fred Gretsch recalls. And, after Harrison played that guitar on The Ed Sullivan Show, demand for Gretsch guitars skyrocketed.

Fred Gretsch, President and CEO of the Gretsch Company (Courtesy Gretsch Guitars)

Fred Gretsch spoke to Parade.com about how Beatlemania transformed his company, what George was like in person, and why, fifty years later, we’re still crazy about those four boys from Liverpool.

What was it like watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan as a teen?“There was quite a buildup for the performance on TheEd Sullivan Show…The Beatles had arrived in Manhattan a couple of days earlier, and all the press was hounding them, getting interviews, and the coverage on the three TV networks was nonstop. It was very exciting—it was an incredible anticipation. I got to watch the performance at home with my sister and friends in our TV room—[which], going back 50 years, was a small room with a black-and-white TV in a wooden case. We cheered them on—it was really terrific.”

Did you know George Harrison played a Gretsch guitar?“Yes, we certainly did, and in fact, the Chet Atkins Country Gentleman he played was one of several Gretsch guitars he had. He talked about…the Gretsch Duo Jet that he bought in 1960 used from a seller in Liverpool, [and] he described that as his first good guitar…We were looking forward to seeing him play a Gretsch guitar, and very thrilled to see the logo on that guitar on national television!”

How did Beatlemania transform your company?“Overnight, thousands of garage bands were created that wanted to emulate the Beatles…[Demand] went up 25 percent. You know, the baby boom generation was teenagers at that point in time. Rock and roll had begun mid-’50s [and] was gaining steam, [so] everybody was prepped and focused on the Beatles when they arrived…everybody was ready for them.”

You got to know George Harrison personally in the 1980s. How did that come about?“In 1987, George did a solo album, Cloud Nine, and he appeared on the jacket with his Gretsch Duo Jet guitar…My wife Dinah, who has worked with me in the business thirty five years now, wrote him a letter through the record company thanking him for playing the guitar. And amazingly, he called her! He was happy to have the letter, happy to be in touch directly with the Gretsch family, and was telling her all about the new Traveling Wilburys band.”

What was he like in person?“He was absolutely a gentleman. We Americans think anyone with a British accent sounds pretty cool, but he was more than sounding cool—he was a real gentleman, somebody who was very kindly in nature.”

How would you describe the Gretsch sound?“It’s a Beatles tone!…It’s a softer tone. It’s a large-body guitar and it has a number of different built-in effects that are unusual, [such as] mufflers. The Country Gentleman model has gold-plated hardware, so it looks sharp in addition to having that unique great Gretsch sound.”

Did you ever meet any other members of the Beatles?“We have met Paul [and] Ringo, and we’re frequent visitors at Strawberry Fields in New York, which of course is where John lived at the Dakota apartments.”

Do you think young people today are still inspired by the Beatles?“I speak to musicians of all ages, and it’s interesting that the one universal is the Beatles. We can ask musicians of any place, of any age, whether they know the music of the Beatles, and the answer is always yes. And some of the other famous musicians of the ‘60s and ‘70s and ‘80s, the answer is often, or most of the time, no. So the Beatles have stood the test of time.”

Why does everyone still know and love the Beatles today?“I think it’s the quality of the songs that were written, and their musicianship. And, of course, they came along at a sweet spot in American history when the baby boom generation, the biggest of all time, was teenagers, when rock and roll music was well known and continuing to mature…It was a wonderful combination of talent and opportunity.

“The Beatles mesmerized an entire generation and we ask ourselves, how many future musicians’ dreams began that day? We know that literally millions of kids were inspired to form bands like the Beatles, and we still hear from plenty of them today. Fifty years ahead, we won’t be around, but we have grandkids who will, and they’ll be telling the Gretsch story.”